Brewing outside

I'm getting ready to switch over to full boil extracts (and eventually to AG) and moving from my electric stove to a propane burner outside. For those of you who brew outdoors, what do you do to keep debris from getting into the kettle? I live in Wyoming which is windy as heck and there's a flowering tree right next to my patio that's littering everything in sight with petals. On a normal day I'd probably be fine, but I don't want to adjust my brewing schedule to fit the wind's schedule.

Also, what's a rough estimate of how much propane I'll be using for a regular 60-minute boil?

 

Wind is your worst enemy when brewing outside - especially after flame out. All that dust, pollen etc is covered in wild yeast and bacteria that will happily grow in your beer. While boiling it is not a problem as you are continuously sanitizing your wort. What I do windy or not is keep a lid on while cooling my wort and wrap the valve spigot with foil. I wrap foil around the seam between the lid and the pot and over the opening through which my immersion cooler fits. Once cool I transfer from my brewing kettle to a better bottle with foil covering the opening to the bottle.

Wind will also affect how much propane you will have to use. I usually get 4-5 5g batches from one 20# tank but I tend to brew lagers which require 90 minute boils and we don't have much wind here in the PNW.

GT

 

Besides stuff getting into your brew, having a burner with a good amount of heat output will help a lot. I don't know what the rating is on mine but I do know it's nowhere near the BTU of some of the burners sold on the online brew stores. I had to crank that sucker when trying to get it to boil water and it took a lot longer.

 

I bought a replacement screen door screen made from fiberglass at the local home improvement store. It was about $3-4.

Then I took a pair of scissors and cut it into a piece that fits over the brew kettle. I left a couple of strips on opposite sides that I can tuck through the handles of my kettle if it's windy.

Whenever I'm brewing, the screen's on top of the kettle.

 

I don't suppose you have a picture of the screen on your kettle? Just curious about how you kept it from falling in/blowing off.

 

I do nothing, but I don't have to deal with the wind. You would think that there would be on a ridge at 4,500', but the trees do a good job of keeping it down. you can hear the wind ripping through the tops of the trees sometimes, but feel nothing at ground level. That being said, I bet my next batch goes completely haywire!

I would think that the screen lid wouldn't do much other than lead to DMS problems, and I would think that once the heat is turned off would be more of a problem. As far as using more propane, I would (yep, again...) think that a heat shield would be more efficient than a screen lid, but these are only theories that my pea brain came up with.

 

At my last two places, I brewed in my garage with the door wide open, and nothing would blow in there. Now I brew under my deck, which also does a pretty good job of avoiding falling debris. Though I like the screen idea...

 

I don't, sorry. It's just a roll of fiberglass screen that is meant to replace a screen door's screen.

I cut it to this shape--actually, the main part is square instead of round--a few inches bigger than the pot itself:


I tuck the "wings" through the handles of the kettle if its windy. If not, it just sits on top of the kettle and kind of hangs over the edges.

Steam has no problem coming out, but leaves and bugs don't get in.

 

I brew outside and have no concerns of debris until boil is over (I think once I picked a leaf out of the boil with a pair of tongs). Then I put the lid on (which is cut to accommodate my immersion chiller) as soon as I turn the flame off. I chill as much as possible for 20-30 min, which brings me to about 70F (but I don't take a reading), and then I carry the whole damned pot into the house to safely rack into my waiting, sanitized, carboy in the kitchen.

For propane, I use one of those standard LP tanks for BBQs. After 4 AG brews this season, the tank still feels full.... it'll last ya.

 

They also sell grease splatter sceens, which is basically a plastic ring with a mesh screen inside of it. It will keep the large debris out. They cost a couple bucks at most.

 

Yep, garage. It'll get a bit warmer than firing things up outside but you get a lot more control over the brewing environment. I'm fortunate that I have a screened window in my garage that I brew next to. I open the garage door and usually get a decent breeze through.

 

Aluminum window screening. Cut a piece 6" bigger than the kettle, lay it on the kettle, set the lid on the screen and fold the edge down. Using the lid makes it easier to get uniform bending.

 

I brew just inside my garage. Seems to work so far.

 

Thanks for all the input guys. I don't have the luxury of a garage to brew in, so I'm stuck on the porch. I think I'll try to find some screening to put over the top like suggested. I'm bringing the wort inside to the kitchen to cool, so it's only during the boil I'm worried about.

 

If that is your process then no worries. Put a lid on it at flame out and then take it indoors to cool and rack. It is only after you begin cooling it that your risk of contamination goes up. One question. How do you plan on carrying 6 gal of boiling hot wort into your kitchen?

GT

 

Very very carefully.

But really this is just a short-term setup until I have some outside water source to work with. This is all also just future preparation and research, don't even have a burner yet.

Homebrewing addiction + 1 bedroom apartment = sucky